Pirates Notebook: The Amazing Has Become Ordinary For Felipe Rivero

PITTSBURGH — Felipe Rivero’s appearance on Friday in the Pirates' 5-2 walk-off win over the St. Louis Cardinals might have been an afterthought.

Rivero pitched a scoreless ninth inning, holding the door open for the offense and Josh Bell kicked it down with his three-run, walk-off home run.

It’s almost that the amazing has become ordinary when it comes to Rivero. Friday, he sat down the Cardinals’ No. 4, 5 and 6 hitters with just eight pitches — including a three-pitch strikeout of Stephen Piscotty with a fastball, changeup, changeup that sent Piscotty to a knee.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/886049732904222721

The inning took Rivero just eight pitches.

According to manager Clint Hurdle, that efficiency and command of the strike zone has been the biggest differenc...

To continue reading the rest of this article, subscribe to Pirates Prospects. Subscribers get access to every article on the site, along with all of our exclusive live coverage of the Pirates' minor league system, all for a very low monthly or yearly rate.

If you're already a member, you can log in below. If you think you're receiving this message in error, please e-mail tim@piratesprospects.com.